TRAI reveals MNP's a hit; 29 million requests processed, already

The Telecom Regulatory Association of India (TRAI) made some official data figures public, yesterday, a part of which mapped the route of MNP in India. Flagged off amidst much fanfare, Mobile Number Portability is one of the newest and fastest emerging trends in the telecommunications market, today. If the figures revealed in the report are anything to go by, then by the end of December 2011, India saw a massive increase in the number of subscribers who opted in for MNP services, almost 292.4 lakh (29 million) subscribers availed the MNP scheme further cementing the claim. The report maps the rate of adoption across the country, while revealing the number of subscribers opting for the service, state wise under Zone-1 and Zone-2. 

The report further revealed that while the concept has earned decent success throughout the country, in Karnataka and Gujarat the progress is rather impressive. Karnataka saw as many as 28,33,390 MNP requests through the year, while Gujarat saw 27,68,659 subscribers opt for MNP. The report further revealed that in December 2011 alone, as many as 34.03 lakh subscribers opted to go in for MNP. The chart below shows exactly how MNP has been faring.

The service allowed users to avail the best possible offers, schemes available in the market, while still retaining their old number. The fact that it gave complete freedom to the user, who earlier had no choice, but to stick to the less than satisfactory, sometimes disappointing services provided by their current service provider, for the fear of having to forego their old number, made it click. However, the adoption of the service has been far from easy. Even as the government tried to encourage users to opt-in for MNP, if they were unhappy with their current service provider, instances of telcos not being as encouraging began cropping up. Major mobile service providers operating in the India, like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Loop, Reliance were accused of violating MNP guidelines, forcing TRAI to take up the matter.